Almost without pause during the Cold War, the superpowers and their allies attempted to subvert governments friendly to the other side. Because this usually involved rather undiplomatic enterprises, it often had to remain secret. Hence many of these tasks fell to intelligence services, which used a variety of tactics to incite the overthrow of unfriendly regimes: they might funnel money to an opposition movement; they could provide arms and training; they might promise support to military officers planning a coup. The stakes were high: when subversion succeeded, it could be an easy, cheap way to redraw the lines of the Cold War; when it failed, it could mean a financial sinkhole and worldwide embarrassment.

Click on case files below for details